Detroit Presbytery wants to rescind GA declaration about ordaining homosexuals
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, November 20, 2003
The Presbytery of Detroit has approved an overture calling on the 216th General Assembly (2004) to rescind the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s historic understanding that sex outside of marriage is sinful.
During its November meeting, the presbytery voted 81-76 in favor of the overture. The closeness of that vote indicated, however, that the presbytery may not be as enthusiastic about ordaining practicing homosexuals as it once was. In 1996, the first of three referendums on the issue, 60 percent of the presbytery’s commissioners voted in favor of ordaining gays.
The current proposal seeks to rescind what’s known as an authoritative interpretation of the PCUSA Constitution. That interpretation, first rendered by the General Assembly in 1978 and affirmed by the 1993 General Assembly, declares that the “practice of homosexuality is sin.”
In response to ongoing efforts by activists for ordaining practicing homosexuals, presbyteries voted in 1996 to include in the PCUSA Constitution the “fidelity/chastity” ordination requirement for church officers. That standard has been reaffirmed twice in denominationwide referendums. The most recent vote was in 2001, when nearly 75 percent of the presbyteries affirmed the “fidelity/chastity” clause.
The 213th General Assembly also called for rescinding the 1978 authoritative statement. But that rescission was linked to repeal of “fidelity/chastity” clause.
The Presbytery of Detroit is following the lead of the Covenant Network, an activist group promoting ordination of homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals and people who say they have changed their sex. The Covenant Network has also financed legal maneuvers intended to render the constitutional standard meaningless.
The Covenant Network has announced that it will not support overtures to the 216th General Assembly to repeal the constitutional standard, but will focus on rescinding the authoritative interpretation. The Network wants to delay further consideration of the “fidelity/chastity” clause until after the PCUSA’s Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity weighs in on the issue. The task force report will be presented to the 217th General Assembly in 2006.
Proponents of ordaining homosexuals believe the 1978 authoritative interpretation must be repealed so that the denomination no longer has an official theological statement about ordaining homosexuals.